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S/Ldr Robert Neville DAGNALL 121532 RAFVR: KIA 13 January 1945 Robert Dagnall grew up in Walsall with sister Gwen, where his parents Ernest and Edith had kept a flower shop. When the Dagnalls later moved to south to Bournemouth, Bob continued to visit Walsall, staying with next-door neighbours the Hazledines. Close family friends, Mr Hazledine had been best man to Robert’s father. The couple had no children of their own and in turn, Mrs Hazledine became just as close to the children of her new neighbours, the Ellis family. In time, two of the young people from these families were also to became close friends, as we shall see.
Around May 1940, aged 20, Bob Dagnall enlisted in the RAF Volunteer Reserve as RN Dagnall 128823. Standard practice would have given him the beginners rank: Aircraftman 2nd Class. Selected for aircrew, he took up duty as an airman in that favoured part of the Air Force with the otherwise pedestrian title, the General Duties Branch.
With a jaunty cock of the head, the new Sergeant pilot in best blues with wings and stripes up, on completion of flying training around mid 1941. From the course photo, below. Captain of Aircraft and Pilot By May 1941, Dagnall was at Brize Norton, apparently at No 15 Service Flying Training School. It had only been back in January that 15 SFTS converted solely to Group II (twin-engine) training. In what was to be a busy Spring and Summer at Brize Norton, he began a neat diary using a scrounged Workshop notebook (RAF Form 620, the official mind requiring an orderly and orderable identity for everything). Before starting the 15 SFTS twin-engine syllabus, he would have successfully progressed through ITS basic training and, advanced to Leading Aircraftman (as his notebook attests), through the first flight training step at an EFTS. A year into his RAF war service, in his first diary entry dated 25 May 1941 Dagnall was thus both matter-of-fact about his flight, yet careful to note his status as Captain of Aircraft and Pilot. Taking turn about as Pilot & CA vs Navigator with his opposite number LAC BA Adams, in six hours of cross-country flying in poor weather they got lost only once. And if it was Bob’s compass-setting error, he was able to fly them out of trouble by his own careful observation and with some judicious course correction (perhaps on Adams’ part). Several other crews force-landed that day, with the low rack of cloud at times down to 600ft. Dagnall was not best pleased by stalling-in two days later, apparently in Airspeed Oxford L1878, with minor damage to wing and undercarriage in muddy conditions. A week later and he was wrestling another aircraft whose undercart was reluctant to lock down. Week by week, Dagnall recorded the highs and lows of his flying, up to six hours a day, in bad weather and good, by day and by night, as Pilot and Captain of Aircraft or as Navigator, the exercise successfully carried out or ending in the odd ground-loop or hedge, all noted in the diary with an eye to that reflective self-assessment which the Pilot’s Flying Log Book did not generally permit. Often flying with Adams, by the third week of June he was approaching the milestone of 120 hrs in the log. In 1940 that could have been more than enough to get him posted to an operational fighter Squadron. As the 15 SFTS course continued, they got a taste of formation flying, of bombing exercises, and of night flying, sticking at it despite the odd misadventure and despite the sobering loss of two other trainees in a more serious accident. They were far from alone in encountering difficulty and danger in the effort of RAF training. Yet as June passed, so did the weather improve, as did their skill and confidence. And Robert Dagnall’s diary entries became first breezier, then briefer and finally, on 29 June 1941, they ceased.
Officers and sergeants alike, with their much-coveted pilot’s wings. Sergeant Pilot RN Dagnall is standing at the rear, far left. No date or course board, but every participant has signed Dagnall’s copy. This can hardly be other than the 15 SFTS course photo of successful trainees from their perhaps 10 to 12 week course, ending some time in the summer of 1941. Adams is not present: he may have ended up a Navigator. The new Sergeant pilot could now expect a stint at an Operational Training Unit for experience in current operational aircraft, and there to crew-up. In the absence of Dagnall’s service record, this step can only be surmised for the moment. However it was, by late 1941 he was ready for an active posting. And so to war At Home, 21 Squadron with its Mark IV Blenheims had already gathered much war experience, operating variously from its main station at Watton in Norfolk, on detachment to Coastal Command from Lossiemouth in the North of Scotland, or on short detachments to reinforce Malta from as early as April 1941. Dagnall was posted to join them at Watton, remaining there until December 1941. His first sortie of the war came on 31 October 1941. With “Bruno” Brown as Observer and Bert Friendy in the turret of Bristol Blenheim IV Z7354 O-Orange, they completed a 5 hour anti-shipping patrol without incident. A month later and the three were flying on a Circus to bomb the Luftwaffe at Morlaix airfield, again returning without incident. A Mediterranean interlude The exposed position of the Island fortress was difficult for all concerned, not least for the Blenheim units undertaking forward offensive sorties like shipping sweeps and strikes against Palermo Harbour. By the second week of February 1942, 21 Squadron had lost 11 aircraft and their crews, 33 men in all, of whom just three survived as PoW. Over the period from 15 January to 31 January, Sgt Dagnall and his crew had completed a further 6 offensive sorties and a radar calibration flight, again without incident. They were now an experienced crew, with 10 operations in all to their credit. If the change in strategic balance had seemed slight when Germany invaded Russia, the impact of the Japanese attacks of 7 December 1941 was both large and immediate. As 21 Squadron prepared to withdraw from Malta, Singapore fell. Despite the pressure at sea, at Home, and in the Mediterranean—and for air power in each theatre—more now had to be found for the Far East as well. The 21 Squadron air party reached the relative safety of Egypt on 23 February 1942. In the first week of March, awaiting the outcome of his application for a commission, Sgt Dagnall began another diary, carefully titling and dating the cover of the plain, non-issue, lined notebook. The first page he headed with his name, service no and rank, much later returning to update it with the gazettal of his commission. The rest of the first two pages of the new diary he started to fill with a dated, running list of RAF Stations visited. On 6 March 1942, Dagnall arrived by air at that plum of RAF Middle East permanent stations, Heliopolis. At this point, 21 Squadron had been taken rather by surprise. Although deservedly being rested after their battering at Malta, they disliked the result: detached to RAF Middle East instead of returning Home, yet apparently no immediate prospect of operational work. Unsure of their next duty, the aircrew soon became somewhat impatient of the bright lights of Cairo. By 21 March, most of the Squadron’s remaining groundcrew had also arrived in Egypt from Malta, presumably courtesy of the Royal Navy, but in fact their Middle East deployment was about to come to an end with the disbanding of the Squadron and dispersal of aircrew to other units. And still they waited for postings, with only occasional non-operational flying. Indian journey Perhaps some leave was due, or perhaps he was ill: for whatever reason, by 23 April he had travelled by rail all the way back to Lahore. The war must have seemed very far away. There followed a dispiriting period in India, where the rapid withdrawal of forces from Malaya and Burma had come with heavy loss, resulting in an amount of disorganisation, a lack of equipment and, for Dagnall, prolonged periods without flying plus continuing uncertainty about substantive posting. June came, and at last some long-awaited news. Even today, the London Gazette, though an invaluable on-line official record, is notoriously difficult to coax into revealing results. But there is to be found some record of Dagnall’s progress, the grant of his commission as Pilot Officer: London Gazette Issue 35592, 9 June 1942
Recently commissioned, in tropicals, rings on the shoulder tabs not quite visible, the young officer pilot again in jaunty mood in India. 60 Squadron operations It may have been about then that he joined 60 Squadron. On 9 September 1942, his Observer Don “Bruno” Brown was lost, while flying with F/O George Mockridge of 34 Squadron on a combined operation by Blenheims of 34, 60 and 113 Squadrons. A bad blow. In all three a/c and their crews failed to return while two others force-landed on return without further loss. Dagnall also knew one of the 113 Squadron men missing, Sgt Reid, from training at Bicester. It is certain that he was with 60 Squadron at Asansol and back on operations by October. On the 6th, 60 Squadron put up two Blenheims on an armed reconnaissance out beyond the Chin Hills: to Gangaw for Dagnall and his crew, and to Kalewa for Morphett and co. The results were excellent, and drew a rare direct accolade: a signal of congratulations to the two named pilots and their crews from the AOC Bengal, AVM DF Stevenson OBE DSO MC & Bar. From the running list of stations in the notebook it seems that he spent quite a time with 60 Squadron, remaining with them well into 1943. Several of his dates and places coincide with known 60 Squadron movements and destinations. Further confirmation came from Frank Harbord DFM, author of the delightful Familiar Voices. Then a W/O Navigator with 60 Squadron about to be commissioned, he remembers Dagnall arriving at Asansol and on the move to Yelahanka (recorded elsewhere as May 1943).
Certainly after commissioning, and possibly as Flying Officer. By then their Blenheim IVs were very tired, and during the 1943 monsoon season it was time for the Squadron to change role and re-equip with single-seat Hurricanes. Time, therefore, for a change for the Blenheim crews, too. It seems likely that Dagnall would by then have been due for a move (and relief from operations) after his long 60 Squadron stint, perhaps to a succession of base jobs. In any event, in April 1943 he made a decided choice, drawing his occasional diary entries to a firm close, though curiously his list of dates and stations continued until the end of 1943. He was a sporadic correspondent with family, too. However, two letters that survive from 1944 give clues to his movements.
In April 1944 he was at 3 Refresher Flying Unit, then at Poona - a more productive unit title and function than its previous existence as the dreaded Aircrew Transit Pool (and all the languishing in frustration that hints at). As 3 RFU at least they had a variety of aircraft to keep aircrew "current", including Beaufighters. However galling this period may have been, it was not without reward: London Gazette Issue 36417, 7 March 1944 By July 1944, F/Lt Dagnall was apparently getting ready for what seems pretty clearly to be his second tour of operations. Back in Bengal at the Special Low Attack Instruction School (SLAIS) at Ranchi, its sole purpose the rocketry course for Beaufighter crews—smoke and thunder to be had there, all right. He'd seen a lot of action by then, at Home and at Malta with 21 Squadron, and on Burma operations with 60 Squadron. Chiringa and 211 Squadron It was about this time that Frank Harbord, now a Flying Officer with the DFM, met Bob Dagnall once more. At the Grand Hotel Calcutta, where airmen often stayed, Dagnall asked Harbord to come to 211 Squadron and fly with him. Though clued up on Dagnall’s ability, Frank was unable to accept: the Beaufighter needed a Navigator/Wireless Operator in the back seat but Harbord had only qualified as a Navigator. The 211 Squadron Operations Record Book (ORB) entries for Dagnall start with his arrival from Ranchi on 2 September 1944 as F/Lt, along with Martineau (also later S/Ldr in the Squadron). The ORB records his steady accumulation of 21 sorties, most of them with Flight Sgt CL Rogers as his Navigator/Wireless Operator (from then until December 1944), and in January 1945 with F/O Ronald Henry Stenning 152683. The ORB, usually a dry official daily record, carried a faithful account of the Squadron's Christmas 1944 hijinks, including the usual souvenir menu (signed by Dagnall as CO) and a number of delightfully informal “official” photographs.
The acting CO “stretchered” with much mirth to the fancy dress Christmas football match by a tender mob of “ambulance drivers” and “nurses”. The high spirits of the day were well photographed and I am indebted to Peter Spooner (and his son Phil) for good scans from his own splendid print collection. While many of these were included in the ORB, retrieving useful images from photocopies off archive microfilm is a chancy business at best. In January 1945 the Squadron was busy with a Rocket Projectile course at Ranchi for the first 10 days or so of the month, S/Ldr Dagnall leading the main detachment of 13 pilots there. Resuming operations on Friday 12 January 1945, the Squadron was at once busy, with 10 aircraft on patrol (two over the Irrawaddy and eight in the Taungyup area). At this time, XXXIII Corps had managed to advance across the Irrawaddy against resistance by the Japanese 15th Army. In support, the RAF—with 211 Squadron in the strike-fighter role—was very active against Japanese targets and supply lines. Ground attack work was inherently dangerous, for a variety of reasons apart from interception (engine failure, ground fire, low-slung wire traps against river attacks and so forth). While all 211 Squadron aircraft returned safely after an intensive and successful period of patrolling that day, three had been damaged by ground fire. in Beaufighter Mark X 'O', S/Ldr Dagnall and his Navigator F/O Stenning were struck by machine gun fire near the navigator's station (but without injury to Stenning). It was Dagnall’s 20th sortie with 211 Squadron, his first with Stenning as Nav/W. The next day, Saturday 13 January, Dagnall and Stenning were third crew to patrol, once again flying aircraft NE603 'O'. Armed with rockets they took off at 1010 hours, tasked to take over the earlier patrolling of the rail line from Taikkyi to Iniwa and attack any targets of opportunity. However, the aircraft failed to return. No signals were heard, and a search by another aircraft proved unsuccessful. The Squadron ORB was compiled that month by F/O Peter Spooner 152082 and signed off by the newly arrived CO, W/Cdr Lovelock. The ORB commented: “The loss of Squadron Leader Dagnall and his navigator on operations has been felt keenly by the Squadron”. Dagnall and his Navigator Stenning were the only Allied loss in the air that day in Burma. Dennis Spencer, tour expired, was still with the Squadron when the bad news came. Just on 62 years later he recalled Bob Dagnall in these terms: “S/L Dagnall took over as O/C 'B' Flight in Sept. '44. I can't remember much about him except that he was well liked. His signature is in my log book for the Sept. and Oct. monthly flying hour summaries. In Nov. he took over as acting CO and it is he who has signed my end of tour assessment as a Navigator/W as ‘Above the Average’ ( So I liked him! )... I was still on the squadron, awaiting posting, on 13th Jan. and was saddened to hear that he was missing.” Peter Spooner had only recently been posted in to the Squadron, so his recall of Dagnall is rather fainter. In contemplative mood, Peter wondered whether Christmas 2006 could be “...as much fun as Christmas 1944—you know, the one where Robert Dagnall lay on a stretcher and I wore a grass skirt.”
The brief sketch of Dagnall’s career is of interest, though like many obits rather scratchy. He went to the Middle East with 21 Squadron (as his second diary shows), only joining 60 Squadron in India, and had acted as 211 Squadron CO in the weeks before his loss. The pair remained missing until 1953. In July of that year the Air Ministry wrote once more to Dagnall’s surviving next of kin to advise that his and Stenning’s graves had at last been found by a British Graves Registration Unit. Local enquiries by the searching Unit showed that after attacking Japanese gun positions near the railway at Letpadan (some 300 miles South-East of the 211 Squadron airfield at Chiringa), they had gone on (presumably in the course of their northerly and homeward leg), to make a further attack on another gun position near the railway junction at Prome. In the course of this final attack, their Beaufighter received a direct hit from ground-fire and crashed between Kyungale and Teiknigon. The boys were found to have been buried together near the scene of the crash. The McCubbin connection When his mother expressed a desire not long ago to find out more about what had happened to Bob Dagnall, Robin McCubbin set out to help. First he found the confirmation of Robert’s loss: the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Honour Roll entry. Mention of 211 Squadron there brought him to this site. Putting his own genealogical expertise to work, Robin was then pleased to make one more find, which gave his mother quiet satisfaction: he was quickly able to make contact with Susan Jobson. Sue Jobson is Robert Dagnall’s niece, through his sister Gwen. When the Air Ministry wrote to advise that Dagnall and Stenning had at last been found and were to be put to their final rest in a Commonwealth War Cemetery in Burma, it was to Gwen they wrote, as the last surviving Dagnall relative. Sue, then aged 5, was there with her mother as she read out the courtly, kindly, final news. Most years, the McCubbins all manage a trip to the UK to catch up with friends and family. This year’s journey included one visit more poignant than most. Mrs McCubbin and Mrs Jobson met for the first time, on a date they had chosen with care.
Sue holds up Bob Dagnall’s wings and 1939-1943 Star ribbon, returned to her for safekeeping by Marguerite. And so it comes to pass that, thanks to the kindness and kinship of two families, some of the story of Bob Dagnall may take its place in the history of 211 Squadron RAF. Today Dagnall and Stenning, like so many others of the Squadron, are commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on its website and in Taukkyan War Cemetery where they lie at rest together: In memory of
www.211squadron.org © DR Clark & others 1998–2008 |
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